By Innovation-sa on July 1, 2018 in News
Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahsa Oasis, an evolving cultural landscape, has been officially listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, announced Prince Sulthan bin Salman, President of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH).
Al-Ahsa Oasis, the fifth Saudi site to join UNESCO’s World Heritage Site after Madain Saleh (2008), Tarif neighbourhood in Diriyah (2010), Historic Jeddah (2014), and the Rock art in the Hail region (2015), is expected to bring further boon to the Kingdom’s tourism industry.
With more than 3 million trees, Al-Ahsa is the largest date palm oasis in the world and is home to the world famous khalasah dates. The site, located to the east of the Kingdom, has settlements since Neolithic times and shows signs of ways humans have interacted with the environment. It is a “serial property comprising gardens, canals, springs, wells, a drainage lake, as well as historical buildings, urban fabric and archaeological sites”, UNESCO said in a statement.
Arab News – 30 June 2018